REVEALING
"We are through the Iraq conflict," Rice told reporters, citing a unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution to lift sanctions against Iraq as proof.

Try telling that to the American wives and children who've lost their dad's since that resolution was passed.

Try telling the Iraqi's who STILL have no electricity in Baghdad (at best 40-50% get electricity for two to three hours a day).

What a revealing remark about the administration's real committment to restoring the basics of a nation. The Afghan model is clearly not one to follow. If you've followed that at all, you know it's as bad now for Karzai as its been since he was elected. He had to give up his enforcement authority and give it to another warlord just to keep his job. Bush and gang know that the American electorate don't really care about this, so they don't either - despite all the promises. Now, failure isn't carved in stone until or unless we just throw up our hands and say "too hard" and leave. But the prospect of that is much easier to imagine after months of devolution in Afghanistan and the backsliding in Iraq thus far. It is one thing for a nation to take years to set itself right after a revolution. It is becoming apparent that it is quite another thing to expect the populace to give an invading/liberating force that long. We took it - the problems are now ours, like it or not. America's long-term credibility is at stake here, not just one faction within American politics.